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How to Choose Colours that Flatter your Orange Wood Trim

By 12/23/2019December 27th, 201948 Comments

Here’s a colourful Christmas living room tour from Kristy’s home (my social media manager) in Indiana. See how she added cheerful colour to flatter her orange wood trim in her living room.

Hey there. . .  it’s Kristy here. Maria asked me to share a little tour of my living room all dressed up and colourful for the holidays with my new sofa.

But first, a little bit about my eclectic style. I love decorating with chic vintage finds in my home decor. You’ll see that I’m a bit obsessed in a few categories, like retro thermoses, bottle brush trees and shiny brites. I’m definitely not a minimalist and I believe that your home decor should bring you joy. So, I love to find new ways to use and repurpose old things.

And when you marry those ideas with the thrill of the hunt for retro treasures, the colour palette can become quite varied and abundant. My maximalism style isn’t for everyone… but my curated vintage decor and collections landed me in the 2019 Aug/Sep issue of Flea Market Decor. 🙂

Vintage Globe Collection Styling

My vintage globe collection in my dining room.

Here’s a look at my home tour from a Christmas past. Keep reading to see how I decorated a more colourful living room this season with the addition of my new sofa.

Indiana American Foursquare Home Summer

My home in the spring.

Our home was built in 1914 so it’s seen a lot of love and living in its lifetime. The only thing I’ve never really loved about our home is the orange colour of wood stain on my floors and trim work.

But we also felt like the “paint all the trim white” was a fad that our house managed to outlive over the years and thus should stay true while we were living here as well.

My living room as 5 large windows and I realize how lucky we are to have such wonderful light in this room.

Living Room Oak Trim

This is how my living room normally looks. (Paint colour: Sherwin Williams Pearly White 7009)

The oak trim colour also used to be something I just ignored in my decorating. It kind of worked in my favor during the tuscan trend (when we purchased our house I painted everything in warm browns, beiges and rust colours). I even used curtains and rugs to hide my floors and window trim. Here’s a shot of my living room at Christmas circa 2014.

That pink beige wall colour was like an unwelcome guest that stayed in our home waaaayyy too long. All this brown was really never my style. At heart, I am truly a maximalist that loves to load up on all the colour.

And that grey sofa always felt blah, no matter what pillows I tried.

Before

Finding the right colour inspiration.

It wasn’t until I found this beautiful saturated pink area rug with pops of orange and dark teal green that I could really appreciate the warm orange tones in my floors and oak trim work. I loved how it brought out the beauty in the aged wood. As a result, the stain colour no longer bothered me as much.

It’s amazing how (the right) colour combination can pull everything together.

Pink Area Rug

Shop This Rug

This new area rug motivated us to finally paint our living room out of the dark pink beige colour and into something fresher and lighter. I have realized over the years that styling with my colourful vintage collections pops more in a room with a lighter, neutral colour palette.

Vintage Shelf Styling

Choose a colour for your sofa, instead of a neutral.

You have likely heard Maria say this before! And, she’s totally right!

When we were finally ready to purchase a new sofa, I decided to find something in a shade of blue inspired by the blues in my area rug – rather than a neutral (safe choice). It can be a bit scary to commit to a colour in such a large (and expensive) piece of furniture.

But I have found that colour is so much more generous to my eclectic design style.

I had long-dreamed of a deep velvet sofa material, like you might find in an old library.

However, our family has two boys and two dogs in it so that meant I needed a performance fabric on the sofa. That left me with only like 5 sofa colour options in the style of sofa I wanted. But, one of them was this dark blue-green colour (sort of teal). And it was perfect.

Colourful Christmas Living Room

We went with a sectional since my living room is long and narrow. It’s the best way to maximize the seating in this room. I’ve been playing around with both the amount and colours of pillows. I’m not sure I’ve found the sweet spot yet.

A sectional sofa can be tricky with three corners instead of two. This season I added the bright pink velour pillows for a little festive touch, but I’m really liking them so they might stay all winter long.

Now, bright colour dominates in this living room. And perhaps that’s another reason why the colour of our woodwork bothers me less?

How to decorate orange wood trim

Our coffee table is a repurposed luggage cart from an old train station.

Books Coffee table Styling

Decorate with what you love.

I buy bottle brush trees in bulk. You can never have too many! And, I love how they look when grouped together in little holiday vignettes. I also use velvet ribbon to tie them on to some of our vintage toy cars in our decor.

Bottle Brush Trees Grouping

Really, that’s an approach I try to use with all my collections. I think when you collect something or style with a group of objects that are varying in size and colour, it’s best to layer like items together in one area.

This helps make it feel a little less like clutter and more like a curated and collected space.

Hodgepodge Christmas Tree

Our flocked Christmas tree is decorated with a hodgepodge of heirloom ornaments from Christmases past and present. It’s a tradition my husband and I both grew up with – so we don’t do a designer-theme tree in here (although I adore seeing everyone else’s).

My favorite detail about our medley tree is the extra large C4 retro bulbs and my colourful felted garland from Anthropologie.

Felted Tree Garland

I love that pink is a popular Christmas colour again. Heck, it’s trending as a wall colour too, I mean did you see Tricia’s beautiful new pink living room yet?

Many of my retro Christmas decorations already feature shades of pink from the 50s and 60s. I added this mini pink tree this year just to display my vintage shiny brites.

Pink Christmas Tree

Overall, I’m so happy with my new vibrant sofa colour. It feels more like me and pulls together the colourful palette of our vintage finds (and even complements my Christmas decor). And it makes my orange wood trim feel a little less… orange.

Are you shopping for a new sofa soon? If so, what will you use to find your colour inspiration?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little Christmas tour of my living room. Wishing you the merriest of holidays from Indiana!

Photo by ARC Photography

Thank you to all my wonderful readers for your love and support! I wish you the most wonderful holiday with love, family and friends! I love you!

Related Posts

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Why a Colourful Sofa is as Timeless as Subway Tile

Tricia’s Living Room Refresh Before and After: The Best Sofa for Pets

 

How to choose colour with orange wood trim/div>

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48 Comments

  • Diane says:

    Kristy, I love your home. It just made me smile. The colorful palette is so fun and I agree the Tuscan trend never did justice to the beautiful wood trim in your home. You made so many wonderful comments, such as grouping your collections, that helped me to see why it just looks so happy to me and not cluttered. Your bold style is just stunning. Best to you.

  • Scarlett says:

    Absolutely loved this post! I love colour and your style. Very inspired. And I want that garland from Anthropologie.

  • Barb says:

    Thank you from another who is living with orange oak trim and floors! I’ve gone with creamy white paint and mostly shades-of-blues decor throughout our house, and it works for us. Your home is beautiful and a true inspiration! Merry Christmas to all!

  • Laura Ortel says:

    Thank you for sharing your home with us. We are a family of collectors as well and I gleaned a few ideas of how to use key pieces of our vintage toy collection to decorate for Christmas. Love it!

    • Kristy Robb says:

      Yay! I love it when inspiration is shared. Cheers!

      • Julie says:

        Not sure how I missed this post in 2019. We have similar toned trim (and pocket doors) in our 1912 home and no interest in painting it white. I also prefer vintage finds to brand new tchotchke. You’ve taken it in a different direction than I would have imagined with the blue and pink. Love it and definitely some food for thought as I need to choose a rug and fabric to recover a vintage chair. Thank you!

  • Linda says:

    Thx, cos I’m tolerating my orange floors too! Our 1905 house has very dark woodwork; not going to paint either. Glad to know I’m not the only one in non white trim house.

  • JanetDR says:

    Love everything about your living room! Especially the rug. Source? Pretty please ????

  • Angela says:

    Well I love old homes, and you have done wonders with yours. Love your choice of colours, and your unique decorating style:)

  • Ruth Ann says:

    So lovely and fun!

  • Lil says:

    I really like your trim and the fun bright colors against it. You have a very unique and lovely room!

  • Stacy says:

    I also have orangy floors that are not in great shape that in a perfect world I would replace. But you know, wood is meant to be lived with, and some nicks go with life in a house. I feel like the better you decorate, the less you notice the floors. Your house is old, and the floors have seen a lot of walking, so I like that you’ve accepted that. I actually think that if you painted your window framing white, the neat style would disappear and you would lose the character. I completely agree that color makes a big difference here with your new couch!

  • Sarah says:

    Nailed it! Inspiring! What a cheery, welcoming house. I could see more white and a bit of yellow added to your pillow game. PS – I love it when our dogs are the right color accessories, Lol.

  • Terri Habig says:

    Happy Holidays from Ft Wayne, IN ????????????????????

  • Wyn says:

    I love that shade of wood! It’s rich, like amber jewelry, and warm like the sun. I feel that the new scheme brings out the woodwork’s beauty to you by *highlighting* its colour, not by suppressing it.

  • Barbara says:

    Love your color style! I love the pink pillows on the beautiful teal sofa! I have my fingers crossed that you will always keep pink pillows on your sofa! I love your tree as well, and the Anthropologie felt Garland! Merry and Bright for the holidays!

  • Lucy says:

    I guess that I’m a minimalist kinda but I certainly love color! Crazy about your rug which makes a perfect jumping off point to choose all of your pallet. The blue sofa is perfect and the pink Christmas tree just makes me swoon! Overall a terrific job!

    Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

  • Julie says:

    Kristy, I absolutely love your home and your style. Way to go with being true to yourself and your love of color with your gorgeous collections. I love 50s style kitchen linens myself! Most of the time, I would say paint out the woodwork, but yours looks to be in excellent condition. The tiger oak is really pretty and …well…original to the house. It’s a beautiful backdrop for your colorful furnishings. To me, the oak is classic. It did look orangey with the older brown colors, but is perfect with the bright colors. Thank you for sharing your place with us!!

  • TLM says:

    LOVE LOVE the colour of your couch. It is nice to see that we all have different styles and there is nothing wrong with that. I think we sometimes get hung up on the fact that there is such a hate for oak. Sometimes we need to embrace it. This was really an inspirational post. So nice to hear your perspectives on decor.

    Merry Christmas and the Best in the New Year.

  • barbara says:

    LOVE this ! I have ( orangish! but i prefer” burnt sienna”) solid teak parquet floors that are the real deal. and BOSSY!!!! and a fun rug like that is what i have in mind but over a larger natural fiber… unless said rug is not $$$$$$$$$$$ PLEASE share a link to this wonderful rug! thank you and Merry Christmas!

  • Sarah says:

    I love your repurposed luggage cart coffee table! Where did you get it?

  • Tina says:

    I am a minimalist decorator and also not a fan of orange wood either, especially with pink, so I would have restained the floors and painted the window frames to a cream colour, but then it is not my house. Your sofa is very nice. Am happy that you love your style and hope that you all enjoy living there. I wish you a very happy New Year.

  • Marina says:

    Merry Christmas Kristy!!

    Ohh dear, this is a perfect idea to combine antique and Christmas decorations !! They come together better than any other themes !! They transport us to the good old days of our childhood, when everything was genuine and sound and built for centuries ..
    Haha, those are very peculiar and cute Christmas trees !! My next appartment will see the pink tree I guess ???? I like shining and bright copper details in the interior, and rusty colors in your design add a feeling of closeness to the nature .. At the same time pink is a flamboyant and awakening color, that is always missed when is not present for some time.. And I love the way you use thses incompatible colors: one can only be an accent ..

    I wish you and your beautiful family a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year !!!! ????‍????‍????‍????????????

  • Mary says:

    You nailed it with the blue sofa. And you did justice to your beautiful old home. All of your colors look amazing. I have an orange toned wood floor and a lot of blue. Blue always pairs well with orange toned floors.

  • Pam says:

    I love your home and your collections! This is inspiration for me to group my globes together and to find a spot for my many paperweights (that are boxed up). We always use to put our heirloom and kids ornaments on our tree too. I think I may look for a pink tree to add to our White House ornament tree for next year. I too love the rug! Thanks for sharing!!!

  • Stephanie says:

    So fun and unique! I love this! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  • Your window trim and doors are not oak but the floor appears to be quarter sawn oak.Window trim is pine or spruce which is really a pine and coated with shellac which is orange and turns more orange with age which is what it is supposed to do. Glad to see that your vintage wood trim has not been painted. Blue compliments the orange and gives the room color balance.

  • Carolyn says:

    So fun and so happy! I love how colors in our found and passed down lovelies always seem to work! I would love a little more info on the sofa. Is it online? Did I miss the link? Thank you for sharing your home with us! Happy New Year!

  • Susan says:

    Love your vintage style! So unique and happy! Next year I’m bringing out my vintage decorations in full force! Curious as to where you found the truck camper in your vignette. You don’t see those often and it’s similar to our first camper. I’d love to get my husband one next year for Christmas. We had to move in to a bigger one as our kids got bigger- but boy did we have great memories in our first “house car “ as the kids called it. :-).

  • Faith says:

    I’m finding this post in April of 2024 and feeling like I’ve found a kindred spirit! What a jaw dropping joyful space!

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